A Different Beginning
by NadznCath
Summary: A story of Lily and James's time at Hogwarts. I suck at summaries and I'm not even sure about where the story is going to go. Rating might change in the future.
1. Chapter 1 The Letter

_**A Different Beginning**_

**Disclaimer:** _Don't own Harry Potter, or any of the other stuff, just the plot_

**A/N: This is our first fanfic so please tell us what we could do to make the story better. This chapter is a bit short but the chapters will be longer in the future.**

Ch. 1-The Letter

Lily Evans was sitting on her bed reading a book when she heard a soft 'tap' on her window. Lily went over to her window and looked outside, she was surprised to see an owl at her window. "Oh my…" she said. She quickly opened her window and let the owl in. It dropped a letter on her bed and then flew out the window.

Lily opened the letter and read it,

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

_Dear Ms Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

Minerva McGonagall 

_Deputy Headmistress_

Lily gaped at the letter and pinched herself many times, trying to see if she was dreaming. She then took the next piece of paper that was in the envelope and read it also.

"Lily, Dinner!" Iris, her mother said. "Just a minute mum!" Lily responded.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY 

Uniform

_First year students will require:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

Set Books

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

Other Equipment

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 3)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

Iris wondered why Lily hadn't come down to dinner yet since it had already been more than 5 minutes since she called her down. "Petunia, why don't you go get your sister so we can eat." Lily's father, Henry said.

"Alright" Petunia said grumpily.

Petunia got up from the table and went upstairs.

"LILY! Come down to eat now." Petunia yelled.

"Ok I'm coming!" Lily said.

Lily then rushed down the stairs

"Mum! Dad! Look at this!" Lily said.

"What is it honey?" Iris Evans asked.

"It's a letter, and according to the letter…I'm a witch!" Lily replied.

It took a minute for Iris and Henry to register what Lily had said, "That's wonderful!" Henry said after finally understanding, but hardly believing his ears.

It had been a few days since Lily had received her letter. She was in the middle of reading her school's book list when she realized something. She jumped off her bed and went to the living room, where her father was reading the paper.

"Dad, I was just wondering…When are we going to go to London and buy my school things?" Lily asked.

"Oh my! Well we can go tomorrow if you like." Henry said.

"Okay, thanks Dad!" Lily said, she gave her father a kiss then went back to her bedroom.

"Lily! We're going to London now." Henry told Lily.

"I'm coming!" Lily said. Lily finished getting dressed and went to the front door.

Her father went to the car and unlocked the doors.

When Lily and her father arrived in London, Lily immediately spotted a sign that said 'The Leaky Cauldron'. "Well Lily, where do we go?" Henry asked. "Over there" Lily said, pointing to the sign saying 'The Leaky Cauldron'. "The records store?" her father said. "No, in between the records and the books" Lily said. She then suddenly realized something. "Hang on! Maybe only magical people can see it!" Lily said.

"Yes that must be it" Henry said. "Here, I'll give you some money to buy whatever you need."

"Alright thanks Dad." Lily said with a smile on her face.

Lily then opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron and went off into the wizard part of London.

Next: Lily's time in Diagon Alley

_We hope you liked the first chapter of our story. Please review and leave your comments for us. We would really appreciate it if you told us what would help us and things like that._

_NadznCath_


	2. Chapter 2 Diagon Alley

Chapter 2. Diagon Alley

Lily went into The Leaky Cauldron and looked around. 'What is this place?' she was thinking.

"Hello Miss, do you need some help?" a man with almost no teeth said.

"Um…Yes, I've come to buy my school things."

"Right this way Miss." The toothless man said. He led her to the back of the small pub and opened a door. He then pulled out a long piece of wood Lily was guessing it was his wand, and tapped the third brick on the wall. The bricks started to move and Diagon Alley appeared in front of them.

"There you go! My name's Tom by the way." Tom said.

"Thanks so much!" Lily said.

Lily stepped into Diagon Alley and looked around. She then saw a huge white building and walked towards it. As she got closer she saw that it said Gringotts Bank on the building. She went in the building and walked to one of the counters that were there. There was a weird looking creature at the counter.

"Um hello… Can I change some of this money into wizard money?" Lily asked.

"Very well, you're a muggle I suppose?" the bank worker said.

"Well, no one in my family is magical." Lily told him.

"I guess I'll have to teach you about the money. My name is Griphook welcome to Gringotts Bank."

"Thank you" Lily said, you could tell she was a bit nervous.

After learning about Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, Lily got her money exchanged and went to back into Diagon Alley. She went to a store called Flourish and Blotts.

Flourish and Blotts was the bookstore. She got all the books she needed and another book to learn a bit more about the wizarding world. She went to get all her supplies from the other stores then went to 'Ollivanders'.

Ollivanders was the wand shop. She went in and saw an old man sitting at the counter.

"Hello Miss, come to get your wand?" Mr. Ollivander asked.

"Yes" Lily told him.

"Come here then, I will get your measurements."

Lily went over to him and he took many measurements.

"Hmm…Let's see what will work for you." Mr. Ollivander said.

He went and got a few long boxes and put them on the counter.

"Try one of them Ms Evans." He said.

Lily obeyed and took the first wand. Nothing happened. She took the second wand and sparks flew out from the top of the wand.

"The wand will be 7 galleons." Mr. Olivander said. "Your wand is made of willow and its core is a unicorn tail hair."

Lily paid for the wand and went to explore the rest of Diagon Alley. She saw that a crowd had formed around the broom shop so she went to see what everyone was looking at. She then saw that there was a broomstick on display, it must've been a new model. She looked at the crowd and spotted a boy, he looked to be her age and he was teasing a boy with black hair that looked as though it had not been washed for a few months. She made her way over to them.

"Stop picking on him" She said, as bravely as she could.

"Why should I?" The boy said. "Snivellus was being rude."

"That's no reason to play tricks on him!" Lily almost shouted.

"Oh well, that's ok." The boy told her.

Lily huffed off and went back to the muggle world where her father was supposed to pick her up in 5 minutes.

Lily spotted her father's car and waved. The car then came towards her and she got in.

"How was your day honey?" Henry asked.

"It was wonderful!" Lily said.

When they arrived home Lily went to put all her school supplies in her room. As she passed by her sister's room she heard Petunia say,

"Great, the _freak_ is back."

Lily ignored that comment and went down to the kitchen for supper. At supper her parents asked about her day and what the wizard world was like. She answered all their questions enthusiastically. Petunia however, ate her food and started to leave the table when her mother asked.

"Petunia, where are you going?"

"To my room. I don't want to be near that freak if I can help it" Petunia said.

"PETUNIA EVANS! DO NOT CALL YOUR SISTER A FREAK!"

"Well she is!"

With that Petunia stomped up the stairs, went to her room and slammed the door.

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	3. The Hogwarts Express

The Hogwarts Express

It had been a week since Lily was in Diagon Alley and she was quite relaxed when she realized it was August 31st. She went and made sure her parents were bringing her to Kings Cross Station the next day and then went back upstairs and crawled into bed.

Lily had a hard time sleeping as she was excited for the next day. So she got out of bed and got one of her schoolbooks. She decided to read until she would fall asleep.

It was September first and Lily was VERY excited. She would be leaving home in a few hours time. Lily paced in her room waiting for 10:00 to arrive. She checked her trunk to make sure she had packed everything at least 3 times. Finally it was 5 to 10:00. She carried her trunk down the stairs and brought it near the door. She then went to get her father from the living room where he was reading the paper. Then she went to get her mother in the kitchen. After that she put her trunk in the car and waited for her parents. Her parents came soon after, followed by Petunia. Petunia was only coming so she could go shopping in London.

A fifteen-minute drive later, they had arrived at Kings Cross Station. Lily got out of the car and got a trolley for her trunk. She pushed it into the train station and looked around. She saw a platform 9 and platform 10 but no platform 9 ¾. She then saw someone she recognized from Diagon Alley. It was the boy that insulted the boy that he called 'Snivellus'

She followed him and saw him stop at the wall that separated platforms 9 and 10. She paused a bit farther away and watched him. He ran towards the wall but to Lily's surprise, he didn't smash into the wall but went right through it. Lily beckoned for her parents to come over and they came.

'Mum, Dad I have to say goodbye now.' Lily said, you could tell she was very sad from the tone of her voice.

'Alright honey, we'll miss you.' Her father Henry said.

'Right us letters when you're there!' Iris Evans sadly said.

'I will mum' Lily said with a smile.

Lily then went through the barrier and disappeared from sight. When Lily opened her eyes, which had been closed. She saw a scarlet steam engine and a bunch of people that must be witches and wizards like she was. Lily quickly got all her things and pushed them onto the train. When she had successfully gotten all her luggage together she went to find a compartment.

She quickly found one that had 2 girls sitting there reading a magazine. She slowly opened the compartment door. The 2 girls looked up.

'Hi, can I sit here?' Lily timidly asked.

'Of course!' one of the girls said.

Lily smiled and sat down. She noted that the girls were reading a magazine that was entitled _The Quibbler. _

'So, what's your name?' the second girl asked Lily.

'Lily, Lily Evans.' Lily responded. 'And yours?' She asked.

'Alice Brown' Alice said.

'Stephanie Fawcett, or Steph' Stephanie said.

Lily nodded and the three girls started to chat about anything and everything. After a while a witch with a trolley came and asked if they wanted anything. Lily went and bought a few things, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Pasties. She shared with Alice and Steph. It was only after they had finished eating the sweets that they realized that they should change into their robes.

After changing, Alice took out a pack of playing cards. She asked if they wanted to play "Exploding Snap". Stephanie nodded excitedly but Lily looked at them confused.

'You have to make a card castle before the cards explode.' Alice explained.

'Oh sure then.' Lily agreed to play.

Lily was having the time of her life playing Exploding Snap. The girls played 10 games of Exploding Snap before they got tired of it.

A bit later, while they were reading magazines a few boys knocked on their compartment door. Without waiting for someone to open the door, they came in.

'Black! You should know better than to just barge in here. You too Potter!' Alice said.

'Oh come on Alice, aren't we your friends?' Potter said with puppy eyes. Alice ignored this and went back to reading her magazine, _Which Broomstick_.

'Oh well, guess we'll leave now' the boy who's name was Black said. Alice just nodded.

'Who are they?' Lily asked curiously. She was muggle-born and didn't know much.

'Sirius Black and James Potter, they're trouble-makers. They turned my hair green when I was 8.' Alice told her.

'Oh…Ok.' Lily said and decided to drop the subject there. She decided to read a magazine since Stephanie was asleep and she didn't want to bother her.

The girls felt the train slowing down and quickly got their things together to get off the train. When the train stopped they were some of the first people to get off the train.

'First Years, this way!' a deep booming voice called out. Lily, Alice and Stephanie walked towards the voice. They saw that there was a really tall man holding a lamp that had been calling over all the first years.

He led them over to a couple of boats and instructed them to get in. Lily, Alice, Stephanie and another girl with blonde hair were in the same boat. It was a short boat ride, only 10 minutes. When they reached a big castle, which was of course, Hogwarts they got out of their boats and went inside.


End file.
